It is not easy for me to wait for some of my favorite lakes and ponds to warm up. I have to constantly remind myself that most of the places that I like to fish in the ways I like to fish them, don't tend to warm up until late March or early April. I have spent a lot of cold days with water temps that were not conducive to fishing streamers for largemouth bass. I've learned my lesson. I've learned to wait and be patient. Last weekend, my waiting paid off.
My youngest son, Cody, and I headed to some farm ponds in northwest Missouri with the hopes of catching some largemouth bass. It was a chilly morning and to say that the air temps (and thus, the water temps) had been up and down. The first pond that we hit seemed void of vegetation and fish activity. It didn't take long for us to figure out, this pond was not ready to cooperate with us.
We decided to let the sun get a little higher in the sky and maybe warm the ponds a little bit. While we waited, we went shed hunting. We didn't find any sheds but found a snapping turtle skull which Cody thought was pretty cool. I forgot to mention that we brought Waylon, my German Shorthair Pointer with us. He got some running and chasing in during this time as well, which he was happy about.
Before heading home, we decided to hit one more pond. I've been fishing ponds in the area for long enough to know that fish activity can vary greatly from pond to pond. Sometimes it is due to water temperatures, time of day, time of year, or other factors that I don't understand. Regardless, if one pond seems to be dead, another one might be on fire.
While the second pond we visited wasn't as active as I have seen it at its best, we did catch some fish. Oddly enough, we found them right out in the middle of the pond and located near the surface. They were all too happy to smash a Brave streamer. The takes were NOT subtle and the fights were solid. We caught 5-6 fish with all of them being in the 15-16 inch range as well as one healthy bluegill that was probably between 8-9 inches.
On top of everything else, I got the chance to land my first few fish on one of my new Maxxon Double XX fly rods. I loved how it seemed to cast as far as my 8 weight rods I own but didn't wear me out like my 8 weights do. The casting was smooth and the fish I hooked put a deep bend in the rod which made us feel evenly matched. I was concerned about how the mid flex would deliver solid hook sets outside of strip sets or combined with strip sets, I didn't miss a single fish because of the rod. I missed one because I was too slow on a hook set but that was my fault, not the rod's.
Overall, it was a nice start to the season. With that being stated, I am certain that better days lie ahead. Water temps will continue to climb and fish metabolism as well as aggression will increase. While it is always nice to kick off the season with a few fish in my hand, the best is yet to come!
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